THE Anti-Defamation League last month released
a survey
stating that fully 17 percent of the U.S. population holds
beliefs that are "strongly anti-Semitic." The report also
said that 35 percent of Latinos and 35 percent of
African-Americans were "strongly anti-Semitic." Wow, I
thought, that's a lot of Jew-haters! On closer inspection,
though, the ADL's methodology seems pretty shaky.

How does the ADL measure anti-Semitism? With an
"anti-Semitism index," of course. Respondents are asked to
comment on 11 supposedly inflammatory statements about Jews.
Those who agree with anywhere from two to five of the
statements are "middle" anti-Semites-"not completely
prejudice-free in their attitudes toward Jews, but not an
audience to be deeply worried about." Those who agree with
six or more of the statements are "most" (i.e., "strongly")
anti-Semitic.

Here are the 11 statements:

Jews stick together more than other Americans.

Jews always like to be at the head of things.

Jews are more loyal to Israel than America. Jews have
too much power in the U.S. today.

Jews have too much control and influence on Wall
Street.

Jews have too much power in the business world.

Jews have a lot of irritating faults.

Jews are more willing than others to use shady
practices to get what

they want.

Jewish businesspeople are so shrewd that others don't
have a fair

chance at competition.

Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own
kind.

Jews are not just as honest as other
businesspeople.

Even the ADL concedes that "at least one or two" of the
above statements are "arguably ambiguous." (They're included
only because they've been part of the group's methodology
since 1964.)

In reality, about half the above statements can be
described as (varyingly cartoonish) descriptions of cultural
traits widely ascribed to Jews that are either neutral or
flattering.

Statements such as "Jewish business people are so shrewd
that others don't have a fair chance at competition" and
"Jews always like to be at the head of things" are really
just ham-handed ways of saying that Jews tend to be smart, a
generalization that in other contexts Jews might agree
with.

Even a genuinely offensive statement such as "Jews have
too much power" might conceivably win endorsement not
because the respondent hates Jews but because the respondent
hates power. When you rephrase it as a multiple-choice
question ("Which group has too much power?"), significantly
fewer people choose "Jews."

In the survey, the 11 "anti-Semitic" statements are
camouflaged by other "positive and neutral" statements about
Jews, responses that the ADL ignores when compiling its
anti-Semitism index. Among the philo-Semitic ones are
statements that Jews have a special commitment to social
justice and that Jews have contributed much to America's
cultural life.

(Interestingly, the ADL finds that "an overwhelming
majority of Americans accept virtually all the positive
statements about Jews.") But the camouflage works all too
well: The "positive and neutral" statements are often
indistinguishable from the "anti-Semitic" ones. It is
stated, for instance, that Jews place a strong emphasis on
the importance of family life. Why should this be regarded
as less offensive than "Jews stick together more than other
Americans"? The latter may be an anti-Semitic trope, but
it's circulated with pride at your average Shabbat afternoon
lecture of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth. It
also inspires admiration in other ethnic groups. Tellingly,
the ADL report claims there are much higher rates of
anti-Semitism in foreign-born Latinos than those who were
born in America-44 percent versus 20 percent. But perhaps
what that number really shows is that recent immigrants
value sticking together and remaining loyal to the mother
country.

In some instances, the ADL's methodology may be
drastically underestimating the extent of anti-Semitism. For
example, the survey states a gratifyingly low (three
percent) rate of anti-Semitism on campus. From this it
concludes that anti-Semitism is more common among
less-educated people. But is that really so? After all,
college students are well-schooled in the "correct" answers
to the ADL quiz. If, as many Jewish groups assert,
anti-Semitism is piggybacking anti-Israel sentiment on
campuses, it's not on statements like "Jews are shrewd in
business." It's on statements like this
one attributed to Nicholas DeGenova, a professor
of Latino studies at Columbia University, in the April 18
edition of the Columbia Spectator: "The heritage of
the victims of the Holocaust belongs to the Palestinian
people. The state of Israel has no claim to the heritage of
the Holocaust." The ADL poll has no way of gauging agreement
with that idea. But since it was volunteered publicly by a
person who influences thought and opinion, it seems much
likelier than any of the anti-Semitism index's statements to
reflect genuine hostility toward Jews.